


step out into the wild

by deer_lovely_lily



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (it's tagged as teen and up because the characters are drinking), F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, House Party, Jilytober 2019, POV Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, james and lily get tipsy and wind up finally confronting their feelings for one another
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 16:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21256343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deer_lovely_lily/pseuds/deer_lovely_lily
Summary: James throws a house party; feelings become difficult to hide.





	step out into the wild

“Shhh!” Lily nudged James with her elbow to stop him from laughing as they knelt on either side of the unconscious Sirius. “Give me the pen,” she whispered, grinning.

“Can I do it?”

His words slurring, James looked at her with wide eyes, swaying slightly as his grin widened mischievously. Lily snorted and tried to prize his hand open so that she could take the pen from him.

“You don’t even know how to use it, stupid,” she said and began attempting to wrestle it off him. He gave her a wide mouthed, offended look, but she could see the corners of his lips twitching. “Don’t give me that look,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I _know _how to use a _pen_, Lily,” he said, scoffing. Lily grinned and held her hands up in surrender.

“Go ahead,” she dared, folding her arms and smirking as he took a swig from his bottle and dramatically put it on the ground next to him. Lifting the pen so that it was in line with his nose, he narrowed his eyes at it, as if trying to decipher a code.

“One question,” he began, not looking at Lily as she raised an eyebrow at him. “How, uh… how do I get the ink out?”

Lily burst out laughing and seized the pen from his hand.

“Behold,” she pulled the lid off as if performing a muggle magic trick and passed him the pen.

“Yes, that make sense,” he said. He took it with a grin and leant over Sirius, his tongue sticking out in concentration. When he sat back to admire his work, Lily gave him a slow clap of approval. Sirius now had a monocle, mustache, and the word ‘wanker’ written across his forehead in stupidly fancy handwriting.

“I think he’s waking up,” whispered James, jumping to his feet and pulling Lily up with him. Sirius scrunched up his nose and opened one of his eyes.

“Who let me pass out?” he muttered, slowly propping himself up and looking around in confusion. “And where the fuck is my drink?”

He looked up at James with a surprisingly effective accusatory stare for someone who was currently lounging on the floor with the word ‘wanker’ temporarily tattooed on his forehead. James smirked and picked up his own drink to give to his friend. Sirius took it with a hugely suspicious look on his newly embellished face.

“Something wrong, mate?” James said, folding his arms and biting his lower lip in an attempt not to laugh. Sirius looked from James to Lily, who was also having trouble trying not to burst into giggles. He narrowed his eyes at them then smirked impishly.

“So, have you two kissed yet?” he said casually, keeping very deliberate eye contact with Lily as he took a swig from his bottle. Lily kicked him and he spilt beer down his front.

“You’re drunk,” she accused folding her arms tightly. He looked up again and shrugged, still with that infuriatingly knowing grin on his face.

“Maybe,” he said, pushing himself up onto his feet. “Where’s Moony?” he asked, running a hand through his long hair and looking around at the crowds of dancing teenagers.

“Outside,” said James, his grin returning once more, “he was looking for you.”

“Well, I will see _you,” _he pointed between the two of them with the bottle in his hand, “later.” He headed off towards the crowd.

“I’m betting that he won’t notice ‘til morning,” James said, watching him go somewhat fondly.

“Bless him,” said Lily, smiling. She looked at James; she became suddenly very aware of how surreal everything was feeling. Maybe she needed to sober up a little; her thoughts felt sloppy and incoherent. She realised then that James was looking back at her.

“I think I should have some water,” she said.

“Sure,” said James, “this way.”

He took her hand and weaved a path through all of the people. If Lily wasn’t already slightly tipsy then she might have pulled her hand away, but instead she just let his hand lead her through the crowds. Everything blurred past her as they moved forwards, and the beat of magically amplified music from the record player was resonating through Lily’s body. Her thoughts were barely discernible, but she could feel the base of the song drumming through the walls of the house. As they stopped briefly to wait for some people to move out of the way, she lifted James’ hand above her head so she could spin around underneath it. She closed her eyes as she did and when she opened them he was smiling humorously at her. She reached a hand out to touch the wall as she steadied herself. He said something but she couldn’t hear him over the music.

“What?” she shouted, pointing to her ear in case he hadn’t heard her either. He said it again and pointed at his back, before letting go of her hand and turning around with his hands out, palms up, behind him. She got the message. He stooped down slightly and caught her legs as she jumped up on to his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her chin easily on his shoulder. Their cheeks brushed and she felt the stubble on his jaw against her skin.

“Can you hear me now?” he said as they moved towards the kitchen, the music still beating through the house.

Lily nodded and replied, “yes,” in his ear. He grinned at her voice and continued to walk down the deserted corridor.

“Are you tired?” he asked, hoisting her up as she began to slip.

“Only a little,” she replied. She began to absently swing her legs a little and hum the song that was playing on the speakers as they went. James pushed the door open with his foot, and walked into the large kitchen. The music became more muffled in here as the door swung shut behind them. James backed into the counter so that she could sit down on top of it. Then he turned around to face her.

“Water, was it?” he asked, and she nodded. He nodded, knocked lightly on the countertop and turned to fill up a glass at the tap. She tipped her head back, eyes closed, allowing herself to give in to the feeling of being pleasantly tipsy. James turned off the tap and she looked back down at him as he brought the cup back over to her. She felt the cold glass on her fingers as she took a few sips, letting the cool water slip down her throat. Then she put down the glass and looked back at James. She studied his face, not seeming to really care that he could see her doing so. She looked at his eyes, with their golden shine and flecks of green behind his wireframe glasses. She looked at his lips, slightly parted. She looked at the faint dusting of freckles across his long nose. She slowly traced her finger along his right cheekbone below his glasses, and over his nose to his left cheekbone.

“Do you know you have freckles here?” she said, her voice a whisper.

He kept eye contact with her as she let her fingers travel lightly over his jaw. There was a long silence as they looked at one another, eyes locked. The silence seemed to go on for a long time, and Lily watched his throat move as he swallowed. Even though they had not spoken, it was somehow the most intimate Lily had ever been with James, and she felt a little off-kilter. It felt charged, that moment, like the time she had jumped off that swing in the park with Petunia all those years ago. For a moment, right before she had landed on the ground, she had been flying through the air and everything had felt so still, like the calm before a storm. It was the promise of adrenaline; the promise of life; the promise of magic being real, real, real. Her hand was on the side of his neck now and his hands were steadied on the countertop either side of her. His eyes flickered down to her lips for a second, before returning to meet her gaze again. The instant his eyes were back on hers, something clicked into place. He stepped forwards cautiously so that their noses were nearly touching and she could feel his warm breath against her lips. She slid her hand to the back of his neck, fingers ghosting the collar of his t-shirt.

"Lily," he started quietly, his voice uneven. 

There was a hesitancy lingering between them; a nervous pause as they both tried to pluck up the courage to close the distance. Both knew that once their lips met, everything would change; this whole charade they had always played would be torn apart. 

"What are we doing?" he whispered. Lily could feel his breath on her lips.

She swallowed and whispered back, "Being brave."

Heart beating furiously, thoughts blurring into nothing, Lily closed the distance and pressed her lips to his.

**Author's Note:**

> this is quite an old fic, but considering what day it is (the anniversary of their deaths), I thought this might be a little sweeter to read than anything particularly emotional:') I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> the title is from 'into the wild' by lewis watson


End file.
